Maiden Voyage

Whalers Rest #12
South of Newport

In many ways, we consider this the true start of our adventure.  We are no longer on any real schedule, charting new territory, and really "on our own".    Previous to this, we were "getting ready" or seeing family and friends for our last good-byes.

Pat added the motorhome and tow car!

However, this isn't completely new territory since we've been to the Oregon Coast many times (mostly Newport and north).  It's an odd time of year to be here.  Many places are open with few visitors and many places are closed.  Or closed on the days we were there and open on the weekend!

We are trying the 4 day limit in Thousand Trails (for now) and that has allowed us to finish the overview video walk-through of our "home on wheels" and run errands getting ready to install the trimetric battery monitor as well as have beach walks and browse our favorite stores.

I finally found my Seahawks sweatshirt (in Waldport Hi School Pharmacy of all places!).  And a walking stick that didn't cost a fortune!

For a campsite this round, we didn't drive far into the campground since wifi was close to the checkin point.  We chose a very wet and puddled (that's a word) spot in order to get wifi mainly.  We lost our Seattle local stations (getting too far away) so no Seahawks and local news for WA.

Coming out on Hwy 20 was a great drive.   We got Costco gas early in the morning in Vancouver before we left (few people and cars!) and hooked up the toad in parking lot.  We have to keep that approach in mind for future early morning departures!  Weather was great, hardly rained so roads mostly dry.

We are ready to move along.  And we've scoped out a place to wash the motorhome - yeah!!!

Highlights:  Finally finishing the motorhome overview video, the wonderful mix of rain, storm, sunshine, stormy ocean!  Seals on the floating docks in Newport.  What a kick to watch them try and get on the over-crowded platform and their seal-mates were having nothing to do with that!  Very loud protests!

Lowlights:  Seahawks lost to Tampa Bay.  Wilson was sacked at least 6 times!

Things we're wondering:  How to keep RV and car clean with all this rain and road splash.   Where are we going to spend Christmas?!!

Multi-use!! Our "Lego" walkway!

Standing on bottom step of
motorhome with leveling block
pathway over puddle!

Whaler's Rest TT #12


Ok, this place has many sites that are nice with cement and even wood platforms for the picnic tables and a "deck" to keep you off the soggy ground.  THIS site is not one of them!  But we chose it for the wifi mainly (need it for trip planning, sight-seeing etc. plus this park has very slow Verizon coverage!).

So, we talked about getting wooden planks/platforms (because this isn't the first time in the soggy NW!) but couldn't imagine where we'd store them for the "few" times we'd need them(?)!

So, dual purpose wins again!  Our lego walkway using leveling blocks!  Note ideal position of campfire (next to road, next to door, in middle of puddle). Yeah, now we're talkin'!

Home for now!

We are loving being in Vancouver (at 99 RV park again even though we're in the overflow slot)!  They were able to squeeze us in for two nights so we could have final good-byes with family and friends before we leave for southern destinations.

Yesterday was stressful because we forgot the Honda floormats we ordered and sent to our son's house where we were supposed to pick them up at Thanksgiving (and of course forgot).  So we had that hour side trip before we could leave the Seattle area (at least we remembered before we left for Vancouver!).  We had to get to Washougal before 2:00 to pick up a Trimetric battery monitor (and just in time)!

Wonderful time with friends last night and breakfast at kids place today.  Plans for Fantastic Beasts with family and leftovers afterwards (all thanks to being able to stay another night!).

Front wheels off, handlebars and mirrors down - it worked!
Bag chairs and give-away stuff (we always seem to have) too!

Mods:  I'm calling this a mod at least!  We "installed" the floormats in the CRV and took this opportunity to see if the bikes and bike rack would fit inside.  I haven't liked them exposed to all this rain during the drives and under cover when we're stopped.  Plus taking them on and off and the bouncing on many rough roads.  We don't anticipate being able to use them until we get out of the rain so we'll leave them in the CRV, protected and hassle free until we get to areas where we can use them more regularly!  It was very tight but looks like it will work well PLUS we have one seat in the back still open and room from groceries and chairs!  Yeah!

Highlights:  Being able to stay two nights instead of one to take care of mail and financial stuff and more fun with family!

Lowlights:  More brain fades and stress forgetting the floor mats!

Almost Perfection!

Tall Chief #75  November 21-25, 2016

When we look for a campsite within a campground we are looking for 5 things:  Wi-fi, over the air TV, 4G, clear south view (for DISH),  and privacy.  This site had the 1st three and not too bad for the last two!

When we arrive at a campground, we typically un-hook the toad and use it to drive around looking for that ideal open spot.  Pat uses an app that shows us if we're going to get satellite or not while I check for wifi.  Before full-timing, we would just look for privacy!

Note the satellite placement on a stump to the left!!

The other reason this was almost perfection is we finally remembered to do all our homework in researching routes so there would be no surprises and got into our groove when it comes to taking down from one campsite to setting up in the next.  AND in NO RAIN!

We slowed down a bit this stay and took TWO down days where we got to go for a walk, run a few errands, catch up on email, banking etc. (because we have wifi!).  We got to have one of our favorite traditions of "cheap chicken Monday" from Albertsons (but apparently the cheap part is only in Vancouver - no Monday special here!).

Yesterday was a great day visiting family and sharing laughter and a delicious Thanksgiving meal together.

We're about ready to leave to head back "home" to Vancouver for one day for final good-byes with our small group friends and other family.  Then the real adventure begins where we are "on our own" and making decisions about where to go, how to get there, where to stay,  how long to stay and what to see while we're there (sounds exhausting!!).  

Until next time!!

I can see clearly now (I hope)

This girl is super excited because DH (dear husband) climbed the ladder, unscrewed a plate that went around our back-up camera on the motorhome and adjusted the viewing angle UP so I can see further back while we are driving.

Pat loosened the allen screws on each
side to tilt the camera up or down

Previously I could see most of the car but not the bikes on the bike rack and definitely not the traffic behind us (we'd use side mirrors but at least one car behind us could be hidden!).

When we hit the road later this week, I'll let you know if the adjustment was successful but I'm hopeful the viewing will be MUCH better!!

Back up camera (hard to see here) that also monitors
 behind us while towing

Go Hawks!

Mt Vernon TT (Thousand Trails). #G24 Nov 18-21

Another typical Thousand Trails (for the NW?), lots of trees so no sat, no wifi, no tv.  Easier to say what does work: 4g!  Nice spot in the trees (with no leaves), level and long!

More hello and goodbyes (for now) seeing family and extended family!

A defective 30 amp connection would allow us to plug in but not run more than one thing at a time without losing power.  We mostly made due (turn off heat to run micro, turn off heat to run hot water, turn off heat to run blow dryer and don't run any of those at the same time)!  Campground was responsive but work wasn't completed until we were close to leaving (partly because we weren't home and they didn't want to work on it without checking with us first which was wise in case we had something important running).  We actually don't know if it was fixed since we left before we could test it!

Camping world in Burlington has an awesome huge flag that was almost always flying straight out (very windy in this specific area).  And the friendliest staff!  We exchanged the Wally since DISH  said it was defective and we tested it at mom's when we went to watch the Seahawks....and it worked!  Yeah!  Now we can watch recorded shows and at least the channels on 1 or 2 (or all 3) sats!

Wings, pizza and crab dip made by my bro
for the Seahawks game.  Yum!!!

Missing our friends and family back in Vancouver already!  Happy to see friends and family up here! Great to watch the Seahawks win with family (and eat great food!!!).

Lessons learned:  Check pedestal more carefully before leveling,  deploying slides and settling (probably not realistic!).

Mods to the shower and water pressure are totally worth it (we'll blog on that hopefully!).

Highlights:  Seeing family and dear extended family in Bellingham, tips for places to see, jagged snowy mountains that made rare appearances with weather breaks.

Low lights:  other than the hassle of the electrical, not much!  I would say having to move every 4 days at TT campgrounds can be inconvenient at times.  We moved from La Conner sooner than we wanted in order to not be moving on a day we had other plans and we wouldn't have moved at all (staying up to the max 2 weeks) had we not wanted to be at TT for Thanksgiving.

Things we're wondering:  How we're going to function (poorly?!) if neither of us can remember what we wanted to write down to remember by the time we could write it down!   There was something enlightening I wanted to say here but I can't remember what it was!

Down by the bay

November 15-18,  La Conner TT

Much smoother trip but still forgot to check the RV GPS route (we checked the Google maps route). Why did it have us go up and  all the way around?

La Conner, #161, Sat (using the 100ft cable along the path to the water!), 3g, no wifi, spotty cell. Should have pulled in facing the water instead of backing in but concerned about leveling, park rules, one way roads etc.

So happy we're short.  This type of spot was one of the reasons we wanted shorter for more flexibility.

Pat down by the water at the campground

Wonderful photography (and selfies!) down by the water.  Errands and visiting family and short stay so didn't really explore!

Highlights:  visiting family, water
view among the trees, beautiful area and drives.

Lowlights:  Trying to do stuff without internet:  banking, research, reservations, blogging...!  Mud everywhere.  We need a bath (RV does at least!  Car went through the car wash!).  TPMS (tire pressure monitors) for the car arrived from Amazon with dead batteries.

Monroe, WA

November 11-15 Thunderbird TT near Monroe, WA

Beautiful area and drive. Our spot backs up to the river! No Sat, no tv, sporadic wifi (so far the latter is the norm with RV parks!). Getting more comfortable towing, still don't like bouncing bikes. Fun times not planning gas stops more carefully! Firsts: totally level spot in a campgound. Full in off season?! Was able to get Friday night after all when calling that day before leaving. Unhooking the car then look for site but still didn't know where sats were. Choosing river view over TV (news withdrawal and no Seahawks? gasp!). Lesson we never seem to learn: check satellite view of route and gas stop to make sure you know route so if GPS decides to reroute, you can assess AND you know if getting gas will be FUN (or not). Costco gas in Federal Way bad idea! Other lessons: cable from satellite antenna to roof (trying to find sats) gets tangled in slide out if you decide to check satellite before deploying slides. Tumbling satellite sound confirms worst (thankfully not off the roof!). Later: working satellite confirms best!. What we are wondering: why did we want a DISH if you can rarely have an unobstructed view of the south or you have to pick lame sights to get it? Will it always be like this? How to add a camera to the back so we can monitor the bikes on the car while driving or change the current camera to tilt up more or better yet - remotely tilt where you want! How to fit in walks on beautiful days when it's travel day or other time commitments. Now we're settled with no hard plans and it's raining! How do we find time for all the things we want to do? Video tour, explore, visit, shop for stuff we want, blog, plan next segment. Highlights: view of river, waking up at 3:00 and seeing big dipper out bedroom window. Seahawks win against Patriots (bad for heart). Wallace Falls hike. Visit with family! Lowlights: Trying to find unobstructed south view for satellites. Watching Seahawks game on smartphone (but it was free on Verizon and didn't use data!).

The first stop: Chehalis

Nov 9-11, 2016

We have officially started our great adventure by heading north and staying at the original Thousand Trails near Chehalis!  Visiting dear friends on our way north to see family before heading south!

We broke one of our guiding rules right off! Arrive by 2:00 and never at dusk or later! With a late dental appointment to fix my broken tooth and a couple of other unintentional poorly timed errands, we got out later than hoped and arrived at dusk. Consequence: choosing a site because it's getting dark and not knowing where South and satellites are!

Firsts: Official trip towing. Arriving at dusk. Experience trying to find satellites. Dumping at campground dump station and attaching toad (car) while waiting for dump to finish!

Lessons learned: follow your rules, hooking up at dump station works well if it doesn't hold anyone up!

What we are wondering: Is our DISH receiver really broken? Forums say the new Wally won't work with less than 3 satellites but DISH says it should so exchange it.

Highlights: Beautiful November weather, sunrise, fog "lake", visiting friends

Lowlights: learning about DISH and satellites (but great knowledge to build!)! Planning your next segment and the desired campground is FULL in November????

We did it!!

With my last day yesterday and Pat's last day last week, we are officially both retired - oh my!!

Gifts from co-workers to remind us to take it EASY!

Our first official day was full of family, errands, and another CHECK off the list.  As a going away gift, folks at work gave us a DISH TV antenna and with money from other dear friends, we got the rest of the equipment to go with it so we can continue with our TV addiction (after long days of exploring we hope!).  We will often not be near over-the-air tv so this will allow us to record our favorite shows, stress out watching our Seahawks games and keep up on the news (which is also recorded so we can skip the parts we don't want to hear - election news maybe?!!).

Wow, I think we've finally completed the big stuff!!  Now we're hanging around for Pat's last few dental appointments (and hopefully a new one for me since I broke a tooth last night - arghh!).  All before we lose dental coverage at the end of the month of course!  THEN we can finally hit the road.

So, stay tuned and hopefully we can start the real adventure!!!